A decade of unethical blogging

Earlier this year, 2017, I passed a curious milestone. I have now been blogging
on this domain for over a decade. Many of those who know me might have the
impression that I’m a fairly honorable and trustworthy individual, making
“unethical blogger” a confusing banner to operate under. I suppose I should
shed some light on the origins.

The “Unethical Blogger” concept was originally a snarky response to some fervor
over the bloggers getting paid to write blog posts. In this bygone era of the
web, the notion that bloggers were JOURNALISTS was still en vogue. This
notion was, of course, perpetuated by a number of semi-professional and
professional bloggers who fancied themselves the heirs to 21st century
journalism. The discussion among some “Web 2.0 bloggers” turned to “blogging
ethics” and that’s when I tossed my hands in the air and proclaimed that I was
not an “ethical blogger,” for whatever “ethical blogging” might entail.

I feel fortunate to have continued to write over the past ten years, not for
your sake but for mine. I can look back over a decade of my personal and
professional life and smile at what I have, and haven’t, learned.

“Ethics” aside, I consider a blog to be the soap box from which you can lay
claim to your thoughts, ideas, and experiences in the cacophony of noise that
is the internet.